Neuropsychology BSc (Intercalated)

Can there be a more fascinating subject of study than the human mind and human behaviour? Certainly, there is no more complex a subject known to science, and no field of study that offers more in the way of challenges and potential rewards. Just imagine if we knew enough about the way humans work to be able to prevent the occurrence of problems such as mental illness, anxiety or drug addiction. Imagine also if we could use our understanding to ensure that children, the parents of tomorrow, were brought up in conditions which would fully develop their potential for intellectual, emotional and artistic achievement, or that we could improve our understanding of brain injuries or developmental disorders using the latest advances in imaging techniques such as MRI scanners. The study of psychology is vital if progress is to be made on any of these fronts.

As a student in the School of Psychology at Bangor you can begin to achieve a scientific understanding of the basic processes of how people learn, think, feel, and adjust to their social conditions. Our courses cover both normal and abnormal behaviour (e.g. mental illness and learning difficulties) across the life span from infancy to old age, and they deal with the many factors, biological and cultural, which affect human psychology.

The skills and insights you will gain while at Bangor will be useful in many areas of personal and social life as well as in your career. Personal relationships, communication, and child development are just a few of the psychological topics that are of obvious importance in all our lives.

In addition to taught modules, you will have opportunities for practical experience and research, working alongside the School’s specialists in neuropsychology, functional magnetic resonance imaging, event-related brain potentials, magnetic brain stimulation and neural modelling.

The lecturers are really knowledgeable and they are very helpful in guiding you for assignments and exams. Bangor University also offers different Psychology courses in order to better fit student with specific interests in different fields.

Angel Tan Jia YiuenMSc Applied Behaviour Analysis

What will you study on this course?

Aimed at medical students who wish to study the biological basis of the human mind in health and disease, this one-year course reviews the theoretical underpinnings of neuropsychology, and provides a foundation in clinical and basic neuroscience central for understanding the biological basis of mental illness.

You will cover areas such as Principles of Neuropsychology, Biological Bases of Psychological Disorders, Behavioural Neurology, Cognitive Neuroscience and Clinical Neuropsychology. In addition to taught modules, you will have opportunities for practical experience and research, working alongside the School’s specialists in neuropsychology, functional magnetic resonance imaging, eventrelated brain potentials, magnetic brain stimulation and neural modelling.

*N.B. This degree schemes will not qualify you for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society.

Your first step is to consult your current Medical School to obtain permission to intercalate. If you would like to discuss the course in more detail, please contact: Bob Rafal. Please note: the intercalated degree scheme, including Joint Honours, will not qualify you for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society.

If you attend your Graduation Ceremony, there will be a cost for gown hire (£25-£75) and cost for guest tickets (£12 each).

Course-specific additional costs
Depending on the course you are studying, there may be additional course-specific costs that you will be required to meet. These fall into three categories:

Mandatory Costs: these are related to a particular core or compulsory module that you’ll be required to complete to achieve your qualification e.g. compulsory field trips, uniforms for students on placement, DBS Check.

Necessarily Incurred Costs: these may not be experienced by all students, and will vary depending on the course e.g. professional body membership, travel to placements, specialist software, personal safety equipment.

Optional Costs: these depend on your choice of modules or activity and they are shown to give you an indication of the optional costs that may arise to make sure your choice is as informed as possible. These can include graduation events for your course, optional field trips, Welcome Week trips.

Depending on the Psychology course you are studying, you may have the following costs:

Mandatory costs:

Almost all psychology assignments are submitted electronically, including the dissertation. There are a few exceptions which require printing by students for Year 1 and Year 2 modules (these may be draft assignments used in class, or leaflets and posters which need to be printed in colour). If students print from University computers, then printing costs across Year 1 and 2 would be approximately £5.

BSc and MSci dissertation students will need to purchase a memory stick or disc on which to record their raw and processed data, and this will be submitted to the dissertation supervisor at the same time as the final dissertation is submitted (April of Year 3). All DBS checks for modules and dissertations are paid for by the School.

Psychology provides a set number of core textbooks in the library, but students will incur costs if they choose to purchase their own texts.

Necessarily Incurred Costs:

BSc/MSci/intercalated students will choose from a range of Year 3 modules and intercalated and final year MSci students will choose from a range of Year 4 modules. Dependent on modules chosen, students may incur costs associated with printing (e.g. posters for display at modular conferences; portfolio to document experience working in schools).

In addition, some optional modules have costs associated with practical activities (e.g. Year 3 Born To Run module will require students to pay race entry fees (approximately £30-£40), travel and accommodation to races, and the purchase of running kit if not already owned; Year 3 Disorders of Literacy module may incur travel costs).

In some cases, students may be required to travel to collect data for their BSc/MSci dissertation. Students can pay to become a member of the British Psychological Society (approximately £30), but this is not essential for the course.

Students may also choose to purchase software such as SPSS, but this is available on the Wheldon Building’s computers.

Optional Costs:

We offer a wide range of additional student experiences to provide a full programme of potential activities. Many of these activities do not incur a cost to the student, including all Welcome Week activities run by Psychology (not including personal costs of drinks, food, etc. at the events) and Psychology's graduation receptions (food and drink are included).

Some optional activities do incur a cost and these range from international trips costing £500-£1,000, to national conferences costing approximately £25 + travel/accommodation expenses. However, all of these activities are entirely optional and extra-curricular.

Notes:

The above examples are not exhaustive and depend on your choice of course and modules. There may be additional course-specific costs if you are a joint-honours student, a combined-honours student, a non-graduating student, or a minor student, as you will also take modules from other Schools.